Propelling and brake mechanism for polycycles.



G. G. WORTHINGTON. FROPELLING AND BRAKE MECHANISM FOR POLYOYOLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17, 1910. 1,041,936. Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO.,WASHLNIJTON, D. c.

G. G. WORTHINGTON. PBOPBLLING AND BRAKE MECHANISM FOR POLYGYGLES.

APPLICATION I'ILBD NOV. 17, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

.Ezvewzt'on GEORGE C. WORTHING'ION, OF

ELYRIA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE WORTHINGTON COMPANY, OF ELYRIA, OHIO, ACORPORATION OF OHIO.

PROPELLING AND BRAKE MECHANISM FOR POLYCYCLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

Application filed. November 17, 1910. Serial No. 592,783.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. WORTH- INGTON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Elyria, in the county of Lorain and State of Ohio,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Propelling andBrake Mechanism for Polycycles, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

This invention relates to velocipedes of the type disclosed in my priorPatent No. 941,121,-Nov. 23, 1909, for velocipede, and including a framehaving a seat for the occupant, steering and driving wheels at its frontand rear thereof, and a combined steering and propelling or actuatingdevice including a tubular member connected by a pitman and crank to therear axle driving gears, and pivoted at its lower end so that it may beswung back and forth by the operator when occupying the seat, and asteering post arranged within the sleeve and provided at its upper endwith a steer ng wheel, and at its lower end having a universal jointconnection with a member connected to steering arms of the two frontwheels.

The present invention is an improvement over the construction disclosedin the patent above referred to and has for one of its objects toprovide novel and effective means including preferably a lever withinconvenient reach of the operator for connecting or disconnecting thedriving mechanism between the rear axle and pivoted operating member sothat the device may 'at the will of the operator be propelled by him orused for coasting purposes, together with means whereby when the drivingmechanism is disconnected, the operator can by the same lever apply abrake to stop or check the speed of the velocipede.

A further object is to attain the above mentioned results by mechanismwhich is effective in operation, very simple, and consists of few parts,and still further the invention aims to provide a velocipede of the typespecified and having the features above referred to, which is neat andattractive in appearance, inexpensive, easily operated and strong anddurable.

My invention may be briefly summarized as consisting in certain noveldetails of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts whichwill be described in the specification and set forth in the appendedclaims.

In the two sheets of drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of avelocipede constructed in accordance with my invention, the seat beingremoved to show the parts beneath the same; Fig. 2 is a side view of thesame; Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken through theframe forwardly of the combined steering and operating device, portionsbeing broken away to show more clearly the construction and the mannerof supporting and connecting the parts of this device; and Fig. 4: is anenlarged sectional view through the frame just at the rear of the rearaxle, portions being broken away.

Referring now to the drawings, 10 represents a suitable frame which maybe of any construction, but in this case includes two longitudinallyextending side members 10 which are preferably formed of angle sections.The side members of the frame are provided with upwardly extendingvertical posts 11 on which is secured a flat seat 12 adapted to beoccupied by the operator of the velocipede. At the forward end of theframe is a front axle 13 supported and fixed to the frame by arms orbrackets 14:, one of which is shown in Fig. 2, and near the rear end ofthe frame is a rear axle 15 which is journaled or rotatably supported inbearings 16 secured to the side members of the frame, as shown in Fig.l. The front axle is provided at its ends with pivoted shaft sections orknuckles 17 on which are mounted two steering wheels 18, and the rearaxle 15 has secured to its ends, driving wheels 19. Secured to the frontend of the frame and extending beyond the side members thereof is across piece 20, which serves as a foot rest for the operator.

The velocipede is designed to be propelled by the operator whenoccupying the seat 12 by mechanism including a combined steering andpropelling device, which includes a sleeve or tubular member 22 which isconnected to the rear axle by suitable driving mechanism to be explainedlater, and at its lower end is provided with an inverted bell shapedportion 22 pivotally supported on the inner ends of a pair of oppositelydisposed screws 23 extending inwardly through and mounted in theopposlte side members 1.0 of the frame.

The operating and steering device also includes a steering post 24located within the sleeve and connected at its lower end by a universaljoint 25 to a short vertically disposed shaft section 26, the pivotalconnecting or supporting members of the universal joint 25 being betweenand in line with the supporting screws 23 of the sleeve 22. The shaftsection 26 is sup ported in a bracket 27 extending between and securedto the side members 10 of the frame and at its lower end has securedthereto, an arm 28 which is connected by a rod 29 to steering arms 30fixed to and extending rearwardly from the steering knuckles or shaftsection 17 for the steering wheels, the two arms 30 being connectedtogether by a rod 31 so as to move in unison.

Pivoted to the sleeve 22 at a suitable distance above its lower end is apitman 32, the rear end of which is connected to a crank 33 on a shaft34 which extends between the side members of the frame and is journaledin bearings 35 secured thereto. This shaft 34L has fixed thereto a gear36 which is designed to engage with a smaller gear 37 which is slidablymounted upon a squared portion 15 of the rear axle 15, and is designedto be shifted into and out of engagement with the gear 36.

It will be seen from the mechanism so far described that when the gears36 and 37 are in driving engagement and when the steering and propellingdevice 21 is swung back and forth by the operator who will grasp thesteering wheel 2%, the velocipede will be propelled or driven, and atthe same time by simply turning the steering wheel 2 the velocipede canbe readily steered or guided.

In order that the velocipede may be used for coasting purposes withoutrequiring the swinging of the steering or propelling device 20, and inorder that when used in this manner it will be under the control of theoperator, I have provided means having the double function of causingthe engagement and disengagement of the gears of the driving mechanism,and for also applying a friction brake to check or stop the vehicle, andthis is accomplished by the following mechanism: Pivotally supported onone of the side members 10 of the frame and preferably on the right handside of the same within convenient reach of the operator is. a lever 38,which 1s provided with a latch or locking rod 39 adapted to coiiperatewith a locking segment 40 having a pair of notches 40 in either of whichthe lower end of the rod 39 may be inserted. This lever has pivotallyconnected thereto a rod 41 which extends rearwardly and at its rear endis pivotally connected to an arm of a horizontally movable bell crank 42having a forwardly projecting arm which is loosely connected to a gearshifting member 43 having a yoke portion 43 which has sliding engagementwithin a groove in the hub 37 of the gear 37. The gear shifting member13 is secured to a horizontal pin 44 adapted to be slid back and forthin a pair of arms 4E5 of a bracket 46 which is secured to the sidemembers of the frame. This bracket also supports the bell crank a2 whichis pivotally supported on the central part of the bracket 46 so as toswing in a horizontal plane, by means of a screw 1:7. The rear axle 15is provided also at that side of the frame having the lever 38 with abrake wheel or drum 48, the periphery of which is adapted to be engagedby a flexible brake band 49, the ends of which are connectedrespectively to two arms of a bell crank 50 which is pivoted to the sidemember of the frame, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so as to swing in avertical plane. One of the arms 50 of the bell crank extends upwardlyand is forked at its upper end, the forked portion straddling the rod41. In "order that the lever and rod 41 may not only connect anddisconnect the gears of a driving mechanism but may also apply orrelease the brake, the rod all has secured thereto by a pin or screwwhich permits its adjustment along the rod, an abutment 51, in this casein the form of a ball which, when the rod is shifted forwardly asuitable distance engages the forked arm 50 of the bell crank 50 so asto rock the latter and cause the brake to be applied. When the gears 36and 37 are in driving engagement, the lever 38 is normally in itsrearward position with the end of the latching rod 39 engaging in therear slot 1O of the segment 40. When the gears are thus in engagement,the velocipede can be propelled in the manner previously stated. If,however, the velocipede is to be used for coasting purposes, or if forany other reason it is desired to break the driving connection betweenthe steering and operating member 21 and the rear axle, the lever 38 isswung forwardly, the lower end of the rod 39 being first released fromthe rear notch by depressing said rod against the tension of a springshown in Fig. 2. hen the lever is swung forwardly until the end of therod 39 engages in the forward notch of the segment 40, the gear 37 isshifted out of engagement with the gear 36, but when the lever is inthis position, the brake is yet not applied. If, however, it is desiredto apply the brake, the lever 38 is swung forj wardly still fartheruntil the ball 51 on the rod 41 engages and rocks the bell crank 50 andapplies the brake. Thus, when the velocipede is used as a coaster, theoperator can lock the lever 38 in a position such that the gears are outof engagement and the brake free or released, or by keeping his hand onthe lever, and by moving the same backward or forward the desiredamounts, he can regulate the speed of the velocipede or stop itentirely. This mechanism which serves both to connect and disconnect thedriving mechanism and to apply or release the brake is very simple inconstruction, inasmuch as it consists of very few parts, is easilyoperated, and is very effective and reliable.

I do not desire to be confined to the exact details shown, as it isobvious that some changes can be made in the construction withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim is:

1. The combination in a velocipede, a frame provided with front and rearaxles having respectively steering and driving wheels, a propellingmechanism comprising a device adapted to be actuated by the occupant ofthe vehicle, and a transmission between said for connecting anddisconnecting the transmission with the rear axle, a brake connectedwith the rear axle, a lever for operating said brake, a manuallyoperated lever, a rod di rectly connected with the means for connectingand disconnecting the transmission and the axle, an abutment carried bythe rod and adapted to engage the brake lever to operate the brake afterthe rod has been moved to Copies of this patent may be obtained fordevice and the rear axle, means disconnect the transmission from therear axle.

2. In combination in a velocipede, a frame provided with front and rearaxles with front and rear wheels mounted thereon, a driving mechanismcomprising a device adapted to be actuated by the occupant of thevelocipede, transmitting mechanism connecting said device with the rearaxle, a brake including a brake wheel on the rear axle, and a bandadapted to engage the brake wheel, means for connecting anddisconnecting the driving mechanism and the rear axle, said meansincluding a pivoted lever, a rod connected at one end to said pivotedlever, a manually operated lever pivoted upon the frame and connected tosaid rod, a lever for operating said brake, an abutment carried by saidrod and adapted to engage the brake lever when the manually operatedlever is moved to disconnect the driving mechanism and the rear axle,and after such disconnection is effected.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aiiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

GEORGE O. VVORTHINGTON.

Witnesses:

P. S. WILLIAMS, DORA A. NIoHoLs.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

